Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec 28:11:1303394.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1303394. eCollection 2023.

Headache-related clinical features in teleworkers and their association with coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Affiliations

Headache-related clinical features in teleworkers and their association with coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mariève Houle et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives were (1) to describe and compare headache-related clinical features between teleworkers with migraine and those with tension-type headache (TTH) and (2) to determine the association between coping strategies and headache frequency, and intensity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 284 teleworkers (127 with migraine and 157 with TTH). Sociodemographic data, information related to work factors, headache clinical features, coping strategies used during the COVID-19 pandemic, and headache-related clinical features were compared between headache profiles. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between coping strategies and headache frequency, and intensity.

Results: Results showed that teleworkers with migraine had longer and more painful headache episodes than teleworkers with TTH (ps < 0.001). Higher migraine frequency was associated with the use of the denial coping strategy (p = 0.006) while lower migraine intensity was associated with planning (p = 0.046) and the use of positive reframing (p = 0.025). Higher TTH frequency was associated with the use of venting, self-blame, and behavioral disengagement (ps < 0.007) while higher TTH intensity was associated with substance use and behavioral disengagement (ps < 0.030). All associations remained significant after adjusting for BMI as a covariate.

Discussion/conclusion: Teleworkers with migraine had more intense and longer headache episodes than teleworkers with TTH. This could be explained by the fact that a greater proportion of individuals suffering from migraine experienced headaches prior to the beginning of the pandemic compared with teleworkers suffering from TTH. Regarding coping strategies, both primary headache profiles were associated with different types of coping strategies. Most of the coping strategies associated with headache frequency or intensity were maladaptive except for planning and positive reframing that were found to be inversely associated with migraine intensity.

Keywords: COVID-19; coping strategies; primary headache; teleworkers; working from home.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participants flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Change in headache status, change in capacity to perform activities of daily living as well as headache-related limitations during activities of daily living based on teleworkers headache profiles.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of utilization rate for each of the 14 coping strategies between headache profiles.

Similar articles

References

    1. Donthu N, Gustafsson A. Effects of COVID-19 on business and research. J Bus Res. (2020) 117:284–289. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.06.008 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kaushik M, Guleria N. The impact of pandemic COVID-19 in workplace. Eur J Busi Manag. (2020) 12:1–10. doi: 10.7176/EJBM/12-15-02 - DOI
    1. Cahapay MB. Social distancing practices of residents in a Philippine region with low risk of COVID-19 infection. Eur J Environ and Public Health. (2020):4. doi: 10.29333/ejeph/8455 - DOI
    1. Buomprisco G, Ricci S, Perri R, de Sio S. Health and telework: new challenges after COVID-19 pandemic. Eur J Environ and Public Health. (2021) 5:em0073. doi: 10.21601/ejeph/9705 - DOI
    1. Pulido-Martos M, Cortés-Denia D, Lopez-Zafra E. Teleworking in times of COVID-19: effects on the acquisition of personal resources. Front Psychol. (2021) 12:2485. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.685275 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types